[Prescript: There are three topics that I don't feel comfortable writing about: Music, Politics, and Sports. Music, because I realize that my taste in music is not only limited, but limited to a relatively uninteresting range of popular music. Politics, because my opinions are always more complex than I'm able to convey, so these days I come off as a Bush basher. Sports, because on some level I think sports are stupid, and this discomfort makes me uncomfortable, so anything I write is undercut with insecurity. Why do I mention this? Because today's post covers all three topics!]After dropping my brother off at his hotel last week, I was scanning AM radio stations to pick up the end of the basketball game between Phoenix and San Antonio. Here's the thing: AM radio is scary. First, there's the bad music: "At the copa, copa cabana / Where music and passion are always the fashion..." And then there's the sports talk shows. It makes me feel guilty by association for following sports: "Hey Buck, first time caller, long-time listener. About that Raiders draft pick, I just don't think..."
Worst of all, there's the right-wing propaganda with all the Rush Limbaugh clones. You'd think these spouting chunks of manhood would lose a bit of their steam after their party took control of the country and failed so badly in so many serious ways, but these radio clowns are as cocksure as ever. Know why? Because Democrats want to take money from hard-working Americans and dole it out to people who shouldn't be in this country in the first place. That's why. If a bunch of Republicans are caught in a systematic scandal, they just point out the isolated case of the Democrat caught with money in his freezer. (Do I think all Republicans are corrupt and all Democrats are virtuous? No. I think Republicans are super corrupt and Democrats are more mildly corrupt. They're the proverbial lesser of two evils. In a two-party system, that makes me a Democrat.)
Worst of all, there's the right-wing propaganda with all the Rush Limbaugh clones. You'd think these spouting chunks of manhood would lose a bit of their steam after their party took control of the country and failed so badly in so many serious ways, but these radio clowns are as cocksure as ever. Know why? Because Democrats want to take money from hard-working Americans and dole it out to people who shouldn't be in this country in the first place. That's why. If a bunch of Republicans are caught in a systematic scandal, they just point out the isolated case of the Democrat caught with money in his freezer. (Do I think all Republicans are corrupt and all Democrats are virtuous? No. I think Republicans are super corrupt and Democrats are more mildly corrupt. They're the proverbial lesser of two evils. In a two-party system, that makes me a Democrat.)
Then there was this exchange, recalled from memory so it's not verbatim:
Dickface Host: "There's been a lot of talk on the other side of the aisle about cutting and running because the situation in Iraq has become growingly difficult. Do you think we should abandon hope and bail on the Iraqi people?"
Republican Operative: "Absolutely not. We need to give the new plan time to work."
DFH: "How long before we know whether the new plan is working?"
RO: "Conventional wisdom says we can effectively evaluate the plan's effectiveness in six months..."
"Conventional wisdom" is my new favorite oxymoron.
Dickface Host: "There's been a lot of talk on the other side of the aisle about cutting and running because the situation in Iraq has become growingly difficult. Do you think we should abandon hope and bail on the Iraqi people?"
Republican Operative: "Absolutely not. We need to give the new plan time to work."
DFH: "How long before we know whether the new plan is working?"
RO: "Conventional wisdom says we can effectively evaluate the plan's effectiveness in six months..."
"Conventional wisdom" is my new favorite oxymoron.
